Barker’s trainer says Darren may never box again

By Allan Fox: Former IBF middleweight champion Darren Barker’s career may be over after he injured his left hip in getting stopped in the 2nd round by Felix Sturm (39-3-2, 18 KO’s) at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany. Barker’s trainer Tony Sims said after the fight that “He may never box again” due to the injury. Barker (26-2, 16 KO’s) is being taken to the hospital right now to have his injured left hip examined. It’s possible that it wasn’t a dislocation.

That’s something that a medical doctor would determine. However, it if is a dislocation, which would be Barker’s 2nd dislocated hip, then it’s going to take a lengthy amount of time to come back from it.

Barker’s promoter Eddie Hearn said they have a rematch clause for the fight, so it’s possible that Barker and Sturm could face each other again. However, the rematch must take place by next Summer, and Hearn has doubts whether it’ll be possible for Barker to come back that quickly if he’s indeed suffered a dislocated. That’s an injury that someone can come back from within six months depending on whether there’s any damage to the hip socket. If that’s the case then it could take quite a long time before Barker is able to come back from it, and a rematch with Sturm next Summer would be totally out of the question.

In looking at the replay of the fight, Barker didn’t show any problems with his hip until he was knocked down a second time by Sturm after getting hit with a clubbing right hand to the head. After Barker got back to his feet, he hopped on one foot and clearly was having problems with his hip. His trainer Sims said that the injury occurred in the 1st round, but Barker didn’t show any signs of being hurt until the 2nd knockdown.

If this is the end of Barker’s career then he had a lot to be proud of. It’s just too bad that the injury took place right at the zenith of his career instead of late when he had already enjoyed a lot of success.

There’s no way of knowing whether Barker would have been able to beat Sturm tonight due to the injury, but with the way that Barker was stooping low in front of Sturm, giving him a free shot at the back of his head each time, it’s doubtful that Barker would have been able to make the needed adjustments to keep him from being knocked out.